20 Secrets From 'You've Got Mail' That Still Blow Our Minds

We half-hate, half-love celebrating all of these movie anniversaries. On one hand, it's the perfect excuse to revisit an old favorite that we still happen love and find out interesting facts about it that we never knew before. On the other hand, we end up being reminded of how much time has passed since its premiere. Case in point: You've Got Mail turned 20 on December 18, and to say we're shocked would be an understatement.

Sure, computers have come a long way since 1998 (does anyone even use AOL anymore?) as we're definitely not sitting around waiting to connect to the Internet via dial-up (thank goodness, that noise alone was annoying enough). But the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan rom-com still manages to give us the warm and fuzzies -- even if in real life, the story would be considered a serious case of catfishing. (Just saying.)

It turns out that a lot went into making You've Got Mail, which was directed by the late icon Nora Ephron. (Nora co-wrote the script with her sister Delia.) Looking back, we definitely did not catch all of those perfectly placed movie references -- both to classics and to other Nora Ephron films -- or realize that some of the time, the funniest lines were improvised. Many of the movie's actors went the extra mile to prepare for their role, with background story lines, such as that extra who played the florist, taken into careful consideration.

We compiled 20 noteworthy tidbits about You've Got Mail that still manage to blow our minds. Some of them were likely noticeable to true fans and regular viewers, whereas the others are behind-the-scenes secrets that were revealed later on. It's all, however, pretty darn fascinating and is inspiring us to give You've Got Mail another watch in honor of its major milestone.

There were so many stars in the supporting cast -- Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, and Heather Burns to name a few -- including two who hadn't even had their big break yet: The Mindy Project's Chris Messina and Grey's Anatomy's Sara Ramirez.

What's funny about Kathleen bashing names such as Kimberly is that in When Harry Met Sally, Joe, the ex of Meg Ryan's character Sally, gets engaged to a woman named Kimberly -- and it sends Sally into a full-on meltdown.

The Shop Around the Corner wasn't actually a bookstore. In real life, it was Maya Shaper's Cheese and Antique Shop. The filmmakers thought it had the right vibe, so they sent the owner on vacation for a few weeks, transformed the space into a bookstore, and then put everything back where they found it.

They're not immediately obvious, but the movie does have its fair share of mistakes -- including wireless computers (there was only dial-up back then), Joe adding an olive twice while mixing drinks for his dad, and the rings from the street fair ring toss changing color (from green to red) throughout the scene.

"And even though it isn’t the same characters or anything in our heads, it was always going to be for Meg and Tom. In our heads it was the sequel even though it isn’t strictly speaking 'the sequel.' It was them back together and they are magic together. So some of that has to do with how rare it is when romantic comedies just have the kind of chemistry they had."

There are a handful of references to The Wizard of Oz throughout the movie, from the book that Kathleen has on her nightstand (The Scarecrow of Oz) to the ruby slippers she hangs on the tree. Judy Garland, aka Dorothy, also played the main part another movie about pen pals inspired by The Shop Around the Cornertitled In the Good Old Summertime.